Thankful

I'm stealing this from someone else's blog. It was such a good idea that I couldn't resist. The suggestion was to take a moment to list some things we are thankful for. So here we go:

1. I am extremely grateful for my wonderful husband. I waited a very long time for this guy, kissed a lot of frogs as the saying goes. He is my best friend, my own personal clown, the guy who's kisses curl my toes, the man who I can share my dreams with - and those dreams just so happen to be just like his.

2. The internet. First of all, I figure since I don't plan on listing in this blog where we'll be living, there's no harm in showing a picture of my beautiful new house. Thanks to the internet, before we took our trip up there to check out our new town, I was able to look through home listings and have an idea of houses I was interested in. I house hunted from over 600 miles away! We got word today that we officially get to move in August 1st! I'm really excited. I'll probably post pictures of the inside once we're moved in. But I'm also grateful that even though I'm moving so far away from so many friends, we'll still be in touch. AND, even though my little town only has one grocery store and one general-type store, I won't be limited to buying ANYTHING because I can order off the internet and have the UPS man bring it right to my door!

3. Pirate Munchkin. For all that she's mostly driving me crazy this summer, I love this kid more than I can ever fully express. It's a hard summer for both of us because I've been feeling pretty sick and exhausted and she's super bored. She got used to having projects and games and things to learn and friends to play with every day in kindergarten. I'm really looking forward to being in our new town where I can finally relax a little more. I don't care if we live in a sea of boxes for a while. That's why I'm inventorying all the boxes - anything we need will be really easy to find. I'm going to take time to walk the town with my little girl. We'll go to the park and to the pool. She'll finally get the one-on-one time she's been craving. She lost one of her front teeth last week, and I swear I have never seen a cuter smile ever. On anyone. Now if I could just get her not to pose when I take her picture and I could get a shot of the REAL gap-toothed smile!

4. I'm overwhelmingly thankful for the fact that I've made it to 12 weeks with this pregnancy. There was a time where I didn't feel like I would ever get to this point. But here I am. And so far, so good! I'm getting into the nervous time. For the next few weeks, the morning sickness (hopefully) will start tapering off, and it will probably be a while before I will start feeling the baby move. I do know of some women who started feeling the little flutters at 13 weeks, so maybe I'll be lucky and feel something much sooner than the standard 18-22 weeks. But I feel extremely grateful for this time in my life, and I'm trying to enjoy every single minute. And I look forward to January when I'll get to hold this special little baby in my arms.

5. My love and my belief in the Lord. Nothing in my life would matter without this. I am who I am because of my faith. I would never have gotten through the challenges in my life without prayer. I know that all of these blessings come from Him. I know that this new move is part of His plan for my little family.

6. My mom. She is the most amazing woman I know! You will never meet a stronger woman than my mom. I can't even imagine how she got through 17 years of being a single parent. (I had a hard time just dealing with a YEAR!) She touched countless lives as a teacher and was well loved there. She was also a very respected member of society. She mentioned one time how nice it was that she would get instant respect when people found out she was her parents' daughter. My grandparents were highly loved and respected people. What Mom didn't know was that I get the same respect - when people find out I'm HER daughter! Mom taught me many different, important things in my life, but one of the biggest ones was that happiness is a choice. Life is going to throw a lot at us - both good and bad. We have to decide if we're going to let the bad things drag us down, or if we will be happy despite them. Will we be grateful for the good things in our lives, or be upset because of what we DON'T have? Thanks to my mother's wonderful example, I've chosen to be happy - no matter what. And I'm trying to teach my daughter the same thing. And since she reads my blog, I have to tell her I LOVE YOU MOM!!

7. My father and his many talents. My dad is a very interesting person. He's got a lot of issues in his life and hasn't always made the best choices. But he has amazing abilities. He's an excellent musician and has been responsible for introducing me to so many different kinds of music I never would have been exposed to otherwise. My dad has always been good with woodworking. There is a beautiful kitchen that he made for my sister and me when I was little. It's in Pirate Munchkin's room now, and she loves it just as much as I did. He's made several other things through the years - including a rocking horse that he created based off an old photograph of one my mom had when she was little. Then, a few years ago, he discovered a new love based off his old woodworking abilities - refinishing furniture. One of his first attempts was a dresser that was in pieces in his house when he bought it. He put it back together and gave it a beautiful new finish. From there, he's redone my favorite rocking chair and the child-sized rocking chair that was my sister's. He's currently working on the cradle he built for my sister when she was born. He will have it done before we move to ND next week. My rocking chair, tiny rocking chair and cradle are all going to have matching finishes. People are going to be very jealous of my nursery!

8. My step-dad. (Otherwise known as Dad. He's earned that right.) Just like I waited a long time for my wonderful husband, my mom waited a much longer time for him. Although they got a little sneak-peek first. They were college sweethearts! Eventually, time brought them back together again. The love he and my mom share for each other brings tears to my eyes! They've certainly had their challenges in their 10-year marriage. His health has been bad for half that time. But they joke around and tease each other. They learn and grow together. They are an amazing team. He considers me his own daughter, and adores his little granddaughter. And I'm very grateful to him that he's figured out a way for my mom to be in ND when our baby is born - despite his health issues.

9. Our new adopted family. It started as a friendship with a co-worker. Someone who Surfer Pirate only worked with for a month or so. They just hit it off together - and now they consider each other a brother. D. is the one who pushed us to consider this move to ND. When we decided to make the move, we instantly became a part of his family. His parents and siblings and even grandparents now consider us one of them. I've been concerned for a long time about how my kids were going to grow up without cousins. Summers wouldn't have been complete growing up without all my wonderful cousins! My husband's natural family aren't very close, and I have only seen my nieces and nephew a few times. My sister is gone now. And while her husband has remarried (and they have a baby girl due in September!), they live very far away in Nevada. But in our new town, we have a built-in family. Cousins from a few months old to 13 to run around with and play at the family farm. The 4th of July is a family day - complete with 4-wheeling, bonfires, barbecues and fireworks. I look forward to years of family get-togethers.

10. My animals. They are a GREAT source of entertainment. I couldn't imagine living in a household without pets. I'm extremely grateful that Surfer Pirate shares my love of animals. Although I have to admit there are days when I'd love to shave the dogs and cats bare. I get really tired of cleaning up fur.


So there's a short list. I actually planned on only listing 5, but once I got started, I couldn't help myself. If I had the time, I could go on for many more hours. :)